http://www. willamette. edu/~sbasu/poli305/NotesonMarx_files/image013 http://www.willamette.edu/~sbasu/poli305/NotesonMarx_files/image013.gif MARXISM “The work of Marx taken as a whole is a savage, sustained indictment of one alleged injustice: that the profit, the comfort, the luxury of one man is paid for by the loss, the misery, the denial of another” C. Wright Mills on Marx

The founder of revolutionary communism Karl Marx – a German economist b. 1818, d. 1883 Wrote the Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital These two works explained the theory of communism

http://www.nyu.edu/projects/ollman/docs/what_is_marxism.php

“The history of all human society, past and present, has been the history of class struggles” Marx http://hiphappy.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/clooney_marxism_coffee.jpg

Economic relationships most important in the world Factory manager and owner: the bourgeoisie The workers: the proletariat The workers are the most important because they do all the work to make the raw material more valuable However, the capitalist steals the profit The state works on behalf of the capitalists Workers suffer, while capitalists get wealthy

Solution: A take over The workers, or proletariat, should take over the means of production from the capitalists: property, raw materials, factory, homes and so on. Communism: violent revolution will bring this about Socialism: Only legally and constitutionally – example, the government pays to purchase an industry

Private property is bad Marx believed that after the revolution, through ownership, individuals would eventually take over the means of production and become new capitalists As in the French Revolution Therefore, private property must be abolished Property should be owned collectively (by everybody)

Differences Socialism: Less extreme, more flexible Means of production worker’s cooperatives government ownership Free enterprise, not unfettered Work within political structure Reform capitalism Social safety net Communism: All people should be equal, free, and should enjoy a sufficient standard of living; therefore, no one should even own more consumer goods than another

Capitalism Capitalism – Free market economy private ownership – groups and individuals supply and demand economy let business do what it does best, smaller government  

Marx: Paradise on Earth Capitalism grew out of feudalism, but could not grow forever and would exploit people by its nature Class struggle would be the result. (struggle between workers and owners) Revolution by the common man would come in the final phase of capitalism (Britain, US, Germany)

After the Revolution A Dictatorship of the Proletariat would take over – only a transitional phase Communists would have complete authority to make sure capitalism did not return The state would whither, and true communism would be established Good people would create good people and reduce the need for the state

Review of Basic Ideas Humans by nature are good Economic relations determine all human relations Exploitation is inherent feature of capitalism Private property is evil Capitalism creates two classes of people Only revolution can rid society of capitalism Classlessness and statelessness will follow